A new start for French in Nagpur

With the annex at Indore being established in 1997, Alliance Française de Bhopal already had a widespread reach in the state of Madhya Pradesh. However, French found a new avenue in Nagpur, in January this year, and it has helped to strengthen the extent of the French language and culture.

This year an innovative step was taken by the Alliance française de Bhopal by starting external courses in Nagpur under the pioneering efforts of Mayuri Assudani. Having worked in the profession of teaching French, in Indore and other cities, for the past twenty years, she sensed the love that Nagpur has for languages. With a number of languages being taught, she wanted to formalize French teaching and thanks to her conviction, external courses commenced in Nagpur under the umbrella of Alliance Française of Bhopal. It is not yet an annex, but certainly a fresh beginning in the pulsating city.

Les cours de français à Nagpur

Started in January this year, with only Mayuri as the staff, she receives administrative aid from the Swaraj Foundation, which is a language center in Nagpur. M. Julien Dal Bosco, the director of Alliance Française de Bhopal was in Nagpur for two days to initiate this collaboration with Mr. Sandesh Singhalkar, and his coordinator, Mrs. Yogita Kature of the Swaraj Foundation. Mayuri is is now in the process of building up the infrastructure and presently, she has begun with displaying her personal collection of books, magazines and maps to make the place livelier. The major challenge that was initially faced was that the students were not accustomed to learning French in the French medium, as foreign languages in most places are taught in English. She had to therefore expose students to the functioning of Alliance Française and now, it’s off to a great start.She has just finished with the first session of A1 (the first level) and at the moment level B1 has around 10 students.
Publicity is, for the most part, through word of mouth but she says that one needs to understand the pulse of the city to be able to relate to its people. Radio plays a major role in the city and hence, efforts are currently being made to use this medium well. The Facebook page becomes an active platform of interaction for people who are interested in exploring new avenues with languages. Newspapers have also previously carried promotional articles and all this helps in strengthening the newly established base. The centre at Nagpur has already projected a few French films which have also helped in attracting more people.
Future campaigns include getting more teachers on board in order to improve the pedagogic infrastructure. Mayuri is hopeful that within the next one year, the centre will be equipped enough to be able to start courses for advanced levels in a full-fledged manner, which will include batches throughout the day and also on the weekends. There are already countless inquiries about new levels, fresh courses and specialized workshops. To organize cultural events is also on the cards; a cultural rally through the city will be an exhilarating event, says an excited Mayuri.